Apparatus and method for managing a preference channel in a mobile broadcast system

1. A method for managing a preference channel in a mobile broadcast system, the method comprising: receiving multiplexed logical channels on which data streams are transmitted from a service provider to a mobile terminal through a communication network; demultiplexing the multiplexed logical channels; dynamically allocating preference channels among the demultiplexed logical channels to decoding buffers using preference channel description information; computing a decoding time of an elementary stream in each decoding buffer; decoding an elementary stream in each corresponding one of the preference channels by a single decoder based on the decoding time; and composing the decoded elementary streams of logical channels with a media, wherein the preference channel description information comprises the number of preference channels selected by a mobile terminal user; wherein a first decoding time is computed based on a start time and a slot time, and an n-th decoding time is computed based on a (n−1)-th decoding time and a period time; and wherein the start time is a time at which a first access unit (AU) starts to be decoded, the period time is a period of a time required to decode each elementary stream included in a source list once, and the slot time is a decoding time allocated to each elementary stream.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the preference channel description information further comprises the channel-by-channel stream identifiers (IDs) and a user preference.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the preference channel description information comprises at least one of a unique identifier of each video stream and a user preference indicating a value of a preference for a channel.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first decoding time is computed by equation DT 0 (S1)=startTime+slotTime(0) and an associated decoding time is computed by equation DT n (S1)=DT n-1 +periodTime, where DT 0 is the first decoding time, startTime is a time at which a first access unit (AU) starts to be decoded, slotTime is a decoding time allocated to each elementary stream, DT n is an n-th decoding time, DT n-1 is a (n−1)-th decoding time, periodTime is a period time required to decode each elementary stream included in a source list once, and S1 is a stream.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the decoding operation is performed during a slot time of an associated stream in each decoding buffer at a decoding time.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the service provider comprises a server of a broadcast provider.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the logical channels comprise logical channels multiplexed to transmit data streams of the service provider.

8. An apparatus for managing a preference channel in a mobile broadcast system, comprising: a demultiplexer for receiving multiplexed logical channels on which data streams are transmitted from a service provider to a mobile terminal through a communication network and demultiplexing the multiplexed logical channels; a preference channel manager for dynamically allocating preference channels among the demultiplexed logical channels to decoding buffers using preference channel description information; each decoding buffer for computing a decoding time of an elementary stream; a single decoder for decoding the elementary stream in each corresponding one of the preference channels based on the decoding time; and a compositor for the decoded elementary streams of logical channels with a media; wherein the preference channel description information comprises the number of preference channels selected by a mobile terminal user; wherein a first decoding time is computed based on a start time and a slot time, and an n-th decoding time is computed based on a (n−1)-th decoding time and a period time; and wherein the start time is a time at which a first access unit (AU) starts to be decoded, the period time is a period of time required to decode each elementary stream included in a source list once, and the slot time is a decoding time allocated to each elementary stream.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the preference channel description information further comprises the channel-by-channel stream identifiers (IDs) and a user preference.

10. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the preference channel description information comprises at least one of a unique identifier of each video stream and a user preference indicating a value of a preference for a channel.

11. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the first decoding time is computed by equation DT 0 (S1)=startTime+slotTime(0) and an associated decoding time is computed by equation DT n (S1)=DT n-1 +periodTime, where DT 0 is the first decoding time, startTime is a time at which a first access unit (AU) starts to be decoded, slotTime is a decoding time allocated to each elementary stream, DT n is an n-th decoding time, DT n-1 is a (n−1)-th decoding time, periodTime is a period time required to decode each elementary stream included in a source list once, and S1 is a stream.

12. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the decoder performs the decoding operation during a slot time of an associated stream in each decoding buffer at a decoding time.

13. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the service provider comprises a server of a broadcast provider.

14. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the logical channels comprise logical channels multiplexed to transmit data streams of the service provider.